DISPATCHED FROM THE CROSSROADS, AT THE intersection OF fascination & outrage

I've only seen it a couple times, as an afternoon rerun. It follows five
women with too much money and too much time. Maybe this is my class
resentment speaking -- but what's cute on the fictional "Sex and
the City" (like obsession with expensive shoes) simply comes across
as degenerate in real women.

I guess these shows are produced to allow us to see how rich women live.
Are we supposed to be sympathetic to their little problems or mock
them mercilessly?

They say that in U.S. we are very indulgent of our rich people. We shrug
at their tax cuts and their corporate welfare because it gives
us something to strive for, even if our only chance is the 25 million-to-one
shot in Lotto. Instead of outrage, we poke fun.

The other day on the Al
Franken Show, Al said something like "satire replaces outrage
in a degnerate society." That made me think. It's easier and more
congenial to poke fun. Outrage is dark, risky.

I don't know where I'm going with this line of thinking... Should I care
that rich women manage to turn themselves into grotesques and objects
of ridicule? That they have a misguided notion of "perfection"? But,
hey, they got on TV!